Well, sunday was the end of the work-week and we were visited by several family and friends...so by the time it was time to go home, it really was too late to cook (honest it was ), so we headed off to the harbour for some fresh herring and some lekkerbekjes. Lekkerbekjes are deep fat fried whiting with some of Leen´s ´special sprinkle´. We leaned the bikes up against the small tree beside the harbour tower and breezed into his little stand.We had waved when we pulled-up so he was already selecting the whiting and rolling them in the flour batter. My partner headed out to the wooden pier which stretches out in front of the seaside of the tower to see if there was a bench free. I plopped down and started chatting with Leen about this and that. Soon enough the whitinf and herring were ready and I saw my partner coming around the side of the tower motioning me to come. I thanked the man and headed over that way with hands full of fish and cola. I passed the little bronze statues of the three `ships boys´ that were situated on the wall immediately to my right. They are famous characters in the Dutch classic, De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe, an endearing adventure of three children that went into service on a boat in the early 1600´s. We enjoyed leisurely eating the fish and talking about the past two days´ work in the lotties as we looked at the beautiful lighting on the many sailing vessels that were moored in the harbour. My partner had done quite a bit of sailing before we met and she began talking about those times (which were sometimes quite adventureous as well). We were looking at the masts of the boats and she was telling me how she had some experiences varnishing masts in California some years ago. I felt moved to take a couple of fotos whilst there--as I said, the lighting was very nice. I was sitting in such a way that if I looked slightly to the left, this is exactly what I saw. I lay on my back and shot upwards to get these± Of course I could have left it with the conventional view, but then, I am not really a totally conventional sort. It occurred to me that perhapos a vertical one might also be an interesting perspective--the same, but different...y´know what I mean? After my acrobatics on the pier boards, it was time to toss the empty food containers and pick-up the bikes. We went back to the bikes and waved to ´our´ fishman and slowly peddled along the quay. We passed some old harbour houses on the lefthand side and I wanted to have a few pics of those as well....since I was there anyway, and the weather was so nice, albeit shadowed along this particular segment of the little street. Here are two old homes which were constructed in 1612 and 1618. They would have been the properties of wealthy folk that were in the shipping business back in the 1600´s. Notice that the house on the left is a `double house`, and the leaning one to the right is a single one. Some detail work now--It was common in the old days to have such inlays in buildings. The inlays always had something to do with the house owners. Here you can see some of the smaller inlays at the edges of the buildings. See the shield with three vertical X´s--that shield is the shield of Amsterdam. On the opposite corner was the one of Hoorn. On the façade of the house to the right you can see an inlay of a sort of likeness of the male owner of the house, the other corner had that of his wife. Here you can see the inlay of the construction completion stone indicating the year that the work had been finished. We biked a bit further and came into the sun again and reclling DaisyB´s interest in boating, I again hopped off my bike and leaned it against the old lamp pole to take just two more pics of typical boats. These are either new or are old ones that have been refurbished. I couldn´t tell which. When some authentic old ones come in and tie-up, I will try and remember to take some fotos of those, Daisy. This boat looked so nice there with the reflection on the water´s surface fragmented by the wind. Ok then, thanks for putting up with these hometown pics.
Wow! I could "put up" with those "hometown pics" everyday. Beautiful sapphire blue skies, the boats on the water, the lovely, historical buildings with the inlays...what a fine place to be able to call your hometown. Those are great vertical shots of the boats. Thanks for sharing Sjoerd.
I always enjoy you going to eat fish with your partnerI love all the boats and old buildings.Its always a great trip for me too.You make everything so interesting.Thanks for letting me go along.
Hey Sjoerd! Or should I say Ahoy! Well, I am so pleased to see more of the boats you have there. They are sooo different from here, I am just fascinated. The rigging, the hull shape, everything! Growing up 15 miles from Annapolis, I've seen many kinds of boats from all over the world. Matter of fact, long ago, I managed a small yacht yard (also did my stint cleaning teak and scrubbing topsides, tell your partner!!)... but the boats you show! They are so pretty! The hull shape on the last ones reminds me of some boats that we used to see that were designed in Taiwan I suppose (anyway they were referred to as "Taiwanese" design, and I always loved them the best -- coming to a round point at the bow and stern and wide in the middle with lots of wood detail. The boats that are most common here are fiberglass and more sleek as there are a lot of racers in Annap. and not many people like maintaining old wooden boats. There is also a good mix of sailboats and power boats because the water depth varies so greatly around the Chesapeake Bay. It is very interesting to observe the differences... not just in the boats. Both have their perks, but I prefer sailing. Anyway, I'm rambling. I just LOVE the pics you posted and am going to look at them again! The buildings are interesting too... amazing details... I have been snapping away the past couple of weeks to be able to show some of where I live. It is water oriented too, but different. Maybe I'll get them posted here soon and everyone can see a little of the boats that live here.
Your home town is a delight as always, Sjoerd. You really did well in capturing those masts and the details from the buildings this time.
Well, I'm officially a fan of Dutch sailboat designs. I was curious about the Leeboards (or swaarden) I saw in your pictures so read up on them lastnight. When I go to the Annap Sailboat Show this fall, I will look for them. PS When I looked again at the pics, I enjoyed the buildings just as much as the boats -- the inlays are interesting. Anyone else have protraits built into their homes?
Thank you so much, Droopy--for your nice words. I know that you live in a coastal town also and hoped that you would like the pics. Ahoy, Daisy-mate! Glad you liked the fotos. it spouinds like you have quite a bit of boating backgropund. I am happy that you found the boat pics interesting. The style that is so typical and old here is the type called: skûtsje in Friesian. It is a particular type of boat and the flaps (zwaarden) alongside the boats are in fact, stabilizers to prevent the boat from capsizing in strong wind. These were necessary when the fishermen would go out onto the Zuider Zee or even the North Sea. Even with these aids many lives were lost. There is a sort of large open air museum near here and these boats feature in as some of the things to see...also the sailmaking for these boats. All very interesting to see. The museum sonsists out of old trades where people are busy working and showing tourists how it was. There are also many houses saved from destruction there brought from all around the IJsselmeer (Zuider Zee) and preserved. You can have a look if you are interested. http://www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl/?language=en I am pleased that you found the buildings interesting. There certainaly are other houses with portraits imbedded in the façades. It's not like you see them on every corner of every old house, but there are some here and there across the country. More common is an inlay plaque that shows what the business or interests were of the owners. There were also inlays in the sidewalk paving outside places like bakers and tailors etc.--today most of these are only to be found in musea, however. Hahaha Tammyd-- glad you liked the town fotos, I post them from time to time.
Beautiful pictures...I wish you were my neighbor so you could give me lessons with the camera..of course you have such beautiful scenery ...
Thanks so very much, Sherry. You know, I find your pics really good ones. I doubt you need any lessons from me or anyone else. Your fotos of flowers especially, are just works of art.
